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Smallest Model Railroad In The Whole Great Big World

By bohus

When I was an active model railroader, I used to scratchbuild structures in Z scale - 1/220 the size of real life (and until recently, the smallest commercially produced gauge of model trains). It was a real test to see how small I could build something out of wood and strips of styrene. It's been a while, but I still like to keep an eye on what's going on in Z. It's so tiny that it used to take real specialist knowledge (and really good eyes) to produce models at so diminutive a size. In these boom days of miniaturization, there's more going on than ever in this tiny little world despite the bankruptcy of the scale's original inventors and largest Z manufacturer.

The Z community isn't standing still. Here is an eye popping project that has got to be the smallest model railroad in all the world. The text accompanying the YouTube post is easy to misinterpret, so here's how small we're talking. Imagine you're a Z scale person - around a centimeter in height. Now with your tiny hands you build your own working model train. That's how small we're talking - a scale of 1/35,200. This is a tremendously clever feat, and while it's a bit of a gimmick, it's a darned fine one.

This astonishing accomplishment makes my Z scale collection seem gigantic and clumsy in comparison. Magnificent work like this shows that there is still plenty of inspiration and cleverness left in the world.

Comments

Smallest Model Railroad In The Whole Great Big World

When I was an active model railroader, I used to scratchbuild structures in Z scale - 1/220 the size of real life (and until recently, the smallest commercially produced gauge of model trains). It was a real test to see how small I could build something out of wood and strips of styrene. It's been a while, but I still like to keep an eye on what's going on in Z. It's so tiny that it used to take real specialist knowledge (and really good eyes) to produce models at so diminutive a size. In these boom days of miniaturization, there's more going on than ever in this tiny little world despite the bankruptcy of the scale's original inventors and largest Z manufacturer.

The Z community isn't standing still. Here is an eye popping project that has got to be the smallest model railroad in all the world. The text accompanying the YouTube post is easy to misinterpret, so here's how small we're talking. Imagine you're a Z scale person - around a centimeter in height. Now with your tiny hands you build your own working model train. That's how small we're talking - a scale of 1/35,200. This is a tremendously clever feat, and while it's a bit of a gimmick, it's a darned fine one.

This astonishing accomplishment makes my Z scale collection seem gigantic and clumsy in comparison. Magnificent work like this shows that there is still plenty of inspiration and cleverness left in the world.